Most 'religious' people believe God to be a Superhuman, sitting on a throne in some celestial abode looking down upon us observing our every thought and action, and directing everything.
This train of thinking and believing has been gradually and constantly losing steam for a very very long time. This can be judged by the quality of our lives.
The hunger and desperate seeking for the divine, for God is clearly visible everywhere. Yet very few seem to have found God. Maybe, we are looking in the wrong place?
As per the Gospel Mathew 7:7–8 in the New testament about the Sermon on the mount, Jesus says, 'Seek and Ye shall find'.
Following and changing various paths we say and do a lot of things often superficially, rather than truly seeking.
To guide humanity, on this day in 1469, there came into this world a great being and divine master in human form called Nanak.
Nanak came to be known to the world as Guru Nanak, the divine master when he began to take humanity from darkness to light.
He taught and demonstrated 'Ek Onkar'. All of Creation is one.
We all belong not to any religion but to One, nameless, formless and omnipresent Creation. There is only truth and that truth is One.
God is not separate from us, for God is in all things and in everyone and his nature is love. To love creation is to love God.
Guru Nanak ji called those who truly seek the Truth as 'Sikhs'. Its an individual journey but the paths can be found by being in the company of good souls or 'SatSangh'.
Guru Nanak ji travelled far and from Mecca in the West to Myanmar in the East and from Sri Lanka in the South to Tibet in the North, holding discourses, singing hymns to deliver the simple message of Truth to one and all.
One could describe Sikhism, as an uncomplicated user friendly religion. It is same as the message of all divine masters since beginning of known time. Sikhism is the same Truth, its just shorn of complicated language, rituals and middlemen.
Not so good people distort and corrupt this basic message to suit their own selfish purposes. The divine message that humanity keeps forgetting and needs to be reminded.
God is Creation, whose nature is Love and present within all beings. To love is to give not demand, to nurture not destroy. To respect Creation is to respect oneself and the pathway to be one with Creation.
The 3 basic tenets of Sikhism are,
1. 'Kirit Karo' - Do Work, perform your duty
Work and duty will give us means of sustenance, and dignity.
2. 'Naam Japo' -Be grateful, meditate on the One the Divine
To be grateful can only come from a pure and loving heart. To remember the formless, omnipresent divinity that resides within us and can only be discovered through love and meditation.
3. 'Vand Chakho' - Live and let live by sharing and caring
By living and letting live, an individual can enjoy the fruit of his labour. Sharing unconditionally from one's earnings with one's dependents, the less fortunate and anyone else in need. To share and care is a privilege and a duty.
Choose not the weary path that leads us nowhere. Just be truthful and loving and the Divine will awaken within us.
I send greetings to all of humanity on this day, the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak ji.